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He joined the army on March 7th, 1944 wanting to live up to his brother's legacy. As he had never left his hometown, he acted naive and sheltered from the outside world.[2] He left home to join the army and was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division and was deployed to Europe. Red is also engaged to a woman named Hazel back home and finds out that she is pregnant with their first child after his deployment.

Daniels was born sometime in 1925 in Longview, Texas to Emmet Daniels, a World War I veteran who was awarded the Silver Star for his action at the Battle of Cantigny. There was a particular incident when Daniels and his elder brother Paul went hunting for wolves who were killing their cattle. Red was surprised by a wolf that started attacking his elder brother, panicking he was unable to load his rifle in time. Fortunately, Paul managed to kill the wolf with his knife. Unfortunately, moments after Paul lectured his brother, he collapsed and died of his wounds.

Daniels went to boot camp as he enlisted to the United States Army. He was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division, 16th Infantry Regiment. He met his squad in basic training and hated Robert Zussman in the first week, but he eventually became Daniels' best friend.

Daniels landed on Omaha Beach with his squad on June 6th, 1944. He is ordered by his officer, Lt. Joseph Turner to blow the seawall with a Bangalore torpedo as Kopelson and James were killed. Daniels successfully got to and destroyed the seawall with Zussman's support. He then cleared four bunkers with the squad, and is ordered to clear the 5th bunker with Zussman alone. When Daniels enters the bunker, he is attacked by a German soldier. Zussman punches the soldier but he got stabbed in retaliation. Daniels knocked out the soldier with a Stahlhelm and dragged Zussman to a field hospital. Daniels then went to destroy a GPF cannon which was firing on the beach at still landing troops. He returned to Zussman and promised that he will fight with him to the end.

The next day, William Pierson leads the squad to assault Marigny, Manche. After the squad captured the church, Pierson orders Zussman and Aiello to destroy the AA guns. While Daniels, Pierson, Pvt. Jones and some US soldiers were providing sniper support for them. After clearing the way for the two men, an AA gun that was still operated by enemies fired at the bell tower, leading it to collapse. The squad regrouped with Turner and held off the German counterattack, successfully captured Marigny.

On August 25th, the squad planned for an ambush on a Nazi garrison at their headquarters. After Rousseau and Crowley blew the gates, Daniels and the squad assaulted the garrison with the French Resistance. After regrouping with Rousseau and Crowley, he and Zussman went into the headquarters to provide sniper support for the resistance against the German counterattack. Paris was successfully liberated and the S.O.E. and French Resistance separated from the squad.

On October 17th, the 1st Platoon arrived in Aachen. Aiello took a letter wrote by Hazel and handed it to Daniels. Stiles saw "Ronald Daniels" is written on the letter instead of "Red", telling Daniels that it is a break up letter. Daniels refused to read the letter and believed Hazel is still still by his side.

The 1st Infantry Division advanced into the city of Aachen on October 18th. The squad couldn't advance because of the PaK 38 artillery. Daniels and Pierson called in support from "Villain", Perez and Rabson's tank squad. After Perez cleared the Stadttheater, the squad was ambushed while advancing to the hotel. They captured the hotel and went to the basement. The squad heard a kid's voice, so Daniels lured Anna with his candy bar that Turner gave him. The squad then found out her sister Erica and other civilians were taking shelter in the basement. Turner orders the squad to escort the civilians to a truck. Daniels went back to the basement after Erica noticed that Anna was missing. Daniels brought Anna to the truck and held off a German counterattack. When the truck was ready to go, they were ambushed, causing Erica to be killed.

Before the battle, Daniels finally decided to open Hazel's letter. He found out that Hazel is pregnant, instead of leaving him. He stared at the photo of Hazel until Zussman reminded him that the mission briefing is about to begin.

After defending the bridge, Joseph Turner and William Pierson splitted into two teams to reach Hill 493. After Turner's squad eliminated a mortar team, they were attacked by artillery. Daniels fell to the ground from a hill and saw Paul in an illusion. He got pass the Dragon's Teeth and regrouped with Turner. After taking out the German sniper who was shooting at them, they captured the mill with Stiles.
Turner's squad waited for Pierson's squad to arrive at the base of Hill 493. But they later found out that Pierson was leading his squad and second platoon to assault Hill 493. Turner's squad advanced to the hill immediately. Daniels escorted Pvt. Parker to plant a Pole Charge on the MG pillbox. After clearing the bunker, Daniels was ordered to disable 3 150mm artillery with Thermites. After disabling the artillery, the squad is attacked by a German tank.

Red dragged by his squadmates while trying to save Turner.

Daniels uses thermites to disable the tank and crawled away from the tank which was backing down. Turner got shot by the tank commander after he just killed the crewmen of the tank. Daniels grabbed Turner's revolver and kill the commander. He then dragged Turner to cover but the squad was ordered to retreat. Daniels refused to leave Turner but got pulled out by Zussman and Pierson and watched as Turner is killed.

After Turner's death, Daniels is promoted to Corporal. He and the squad celebrated Christmas the midnight of 25th December. In the morning, Daniels met Howard, an engineer originally serving in a segregated African-American Regiment. As the convoy is passing by, the Ardennes Forest is suddenly attacked by German artillery fire. After the bombardment, Daniels helps Howard to operate the radio, calling in close air support from Rover Joe. While the squad was holding the front line,
being attacked by German tanks and Anti-Tank units. Pierson ordered Daniels to call in air support on the tanks inside the safety limit but refused. Pierson forced Daniels to give him the coordinates and called in air support himself. Daniels was dragged by Zussman into a foxhole, surviving the friendly bombers attack.

"Desertion is a capital offense. So maybe I should just do us all a favor, and finish the job"

— Pierson attempting to execute Red.

Two days after the battle, the 1st Infantry Division launched an operation to sneak attack a German air base in the Ardennes. Daniels and Zussman are ordered to sneak into the base and provide sniper support from the overwatch positions when the attack begins. The overwatch tower they were in was shot by a German tank, causing the two men to fall to the ground. They were about to be captured and transported away by a truck, when their squad killed the Germans near the truck but Zussman was already inside. Daniels disobeyed Pierson's orders and grabbed a jeep to chase after the truck but failed. He was about to be executed by Pierson but Stiles and Aiello arrived, saving his life. Daniels was discharged from the 1st Platoon.

Daniels had been staying in the 42nd Field Hospital in the Ardennes Forest, as Zussman had been in captivity for 8 weeks. He was visited by Colonel Davis and Daniels stated Pierson didn't care about Zussman, just like the soldiers who died in the Kasserine pass. But Davis told him the truth about why Pierson is so serious about orders. Daniels thought himself that he will be punished with court-martial but instead was honorably discharged because of the intelligence he found on the escaping German prisoner. Daniels was called a "bona-fide hero".
After Davis leaves, Daniels held the Saint-Michael pendant that Aiello gave Zussman right before D-Day. He dreamed of returning to Longview, Texas and reuniting with Hazel and Paul. He went to hunt with Paul and being called a "bona-fide hero" by him. Daniels then remembered the promise he made with Zussman after the beach landings.

Daniels convinced Pierson to let him rejoin the platoon. He reminded Pierson what happened in the Kasserine pass and teared up his honorable discharge certificate signed by Davis. Pierson allowed Daniels to rejoin the platoon because of his determination to save Zussman.

"We get this convoy across, we're in the heartland. We'll bust'em open"

— Red right before the battle.

The 1st Infantry division, 99th Infantry Division and 9th Armored division launched an assault on the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen, the last standing bridge crossing the Rhine. Daniels and the squad attacked the bridge with the other soldiers, while Howard's squad went to defuse as many charges as possible under the bridge. After crossing the bridge, Daniels got on an Anti-aircraft gun and stopped the Stukas trying to destroy the bridge. The friendly air support came in and swept the battlefield, leading to the surrender of the Germans defending the bridge.

"I thought I knew what cruelty was, I didn't know everything. But one thing's for certain. What I saw will stay with me forever."

— Red after liberating concentration camps.

After the battle of Remagen, The squad was informed that there were POW camps in the area and ignored Davis' orders, going off to find Zussman instead. They liberated concentration camps along their way and arrived at the smaller labor camp in Berga. After walking through the camp, Pierson realized that the prisoners might have been marched out to the woods for execution. Daniels arrived in time and killed Metz, saving Zussman from being executed.

After saving Zussman, the 1st Infantry Division was given a speech by Davis in the Port of Le Havre. The squad mates said their farewells to Daniels and returned to their daily lives. Before saying goodbye to Pierson, he tells him that he will tell stories to his son of the war and about "that crazy bastard Pierson" but Pierson replies with what Daniels said after tearing up his discharge papers. Later, Daniels went to the hospital to visit Zussman and explained to him on why he decided to save him instead of returning home, saying he couldn't live the feeling afterwards. The two shake hands, fulfilling Daniels promise to Zussman he made after they landed in Normandy.

Ronald "Red" Daniels returned to Longview, Texas on June 13th, 1945. He put his Bronze Star medal on top of his brother's grave and reunited with Hazel and his son, who Red named Joseph Turner Daniels in honor of Lieutenant Joseph Turner's sacrifice on Hill 493.

— Pierson and Daniels on not accepting his honorable discharge from Colonel Davis.

After losing his brother, Red believed that Paul watching him during his time in the United States Army. Red is honorable, heroic and selfless individual, being sympathetic to German civilians, even risking his life to save a young woman's sister alone. He shows himself to be a capable soldier, as his squad mates praise his abilities in battle, often relying on him to pull them through. Paul's illusion states that Red doesn't know when to quit, as shown that he can take a lot of damage (e.g. surviving a train crash). Even Pierson, who is ruthless and shows himself to be crazy, sees him as insane when he refused to return home to his wife and child and get a bronze star.

Though naïve, Red cared for his squad mates, being Zussman's best friend and partner in missions. In his eyes, a hero risks their lives for others, seeing his brother Paul as one after his death. Paul's death inspired Red to never give up and to be like him during the war, and was willing to die for his squad mates and civilians despite knowing he would be a father soon.

Aiello: "I'm guessing 'no' to the open casket."

Daniels: "That's somebody's son."

Perez: "Naw, it's a Kraut!"

— Conversations between the squad after seeing dead Germans while on the tank.

Throughout the campaign, Red shows the most morale in the squad, telling Aiello and Perez to treat the Germans with respect, stating that they had family at home too. In addition, he cared of the German civilians more so than Pierson. He is similar to Turner, as both show leadership and focus more on casualties than others, notably Pierson. Red is intelligent and quick thinking as well, noting the German Prisoner was hiding something if ran from them, giving the Army information on the German's ambush.